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Videoing LEDs — Parallax Forums

Videoing LEDs

PJAllenPJAllen BannedPosts: 5,065
edited 2010-02-20 18:31 in General Discussion
I have a Canon A560 and I'm trying to "video" some RGB LEDs.· The Cyan, Blue, and Magenta·(aqua, blue, purple - whatever), and pretty much the White, too,·come out looking like blue, like there's no transitioning.
The Canon has some lighting and saturation settings (presets), but I haven't found a winning combination.·

And in getting close up, they wash out like.

How do I get better results?·
If that's not possible with this unit, then what should I look for in a camera which definitely can?

Comments

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-02-20 14:27
    PJ, getting good results when producing a video that includes multiplexed leds and video displays can be tricky and frustrating. The frame rates of the video camera and video displays, and the multiplexing frequency of leds tend to be close enough that they "beat" with each other.

    For leds you can try to get the multiplexing frequency high enough that every led is lit several times per frame. This is particularly difficult for RGB leds since each color needs to be lit several times per frame. Getting the color right is also a problem since the sensitivity of the eye is different from the camera imaging chip for the wavelengths of RGB leds. The camera chip is optimized for incandescent lamps or daylight. Filters might help.
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2010-02-20 14:29
    White balnce is one . and try differnt metering paterns .. try spot ..
    As far as Cams to buy

    I use a 1Dmk2 as my main dSLR
    and a S5-IS as my backup cam and my only Video recrding cam .
    ( used to own a XL1 )

    the S5 shoots wonderful video max resuation in Video mode is VGA ,

    the S15-IS ( latest model out ) shoots 720 HD .
    EDIT I have shot RGB LED light bars with it with nno huge issues ..


    Peter KG6LSE

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    peterthethinker.com/tesla/Venom/Venom.html
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    LOL
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-02-20 18:05
    The issue may be with your metering, rather than the color balance. Small, intense light sources tend to saturate. In addition to adjusting your camera's EV setting, try tinkering with the ambient lighting to force a lower exposure.

    -Phil
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-02-20 18:31
    I have the same camera and when I use night mode, everything with·motion is blurry.

    Try putting the camera on a sun setting but then you wouldn't be able to take video [noparse]:p[/noparse]
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